Optical appliance for advertisement and other purposes



' T. BROWN 'Feb. 4, 1930.

OPTICAL APPLIANCE FOR ADVERTISEMENT AND OTQER PURPOSES Filed July 2 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 1' V F}: 11:: I j I 1 I 1211:: :IIIILZ: 11 I I I l I:

' macabre Bz-owzz,

A flat-110 S T. BROWN 1 OPTICAL APPLIANCE FOR ADVERTISEMENT AND OTHER rukroszs Filed July 24. 1926 a Shfets-Sheet 2 i 1 i i I I a a 470.2: v. N 5' w; 1V2 if i $5? xv x i v A I w s 4 w r :355-

\ I XV 2/ f2 I U -F/a.3.- WT I ll i1 4 t v v I fizraaa ior 1 X 1 w fl z T. BROWN Feb-4, 1 30.

OPTICAL APPLIANCE FOR ADVERTISEMENT AND OTHER PURPOSES Fild Jul 2 1, 1926 5 Sh eets-Sheet s f lG-4- Q a pp. flv w m w w w i 4 2/ v aw a Q 7 m WNW! I LL I FL 2 m a 9 $2? 4 0 g a 1 n g n W .LJ L a HFPIIIIIWH. T cj n 2 4 I Theorem-tame, "on s reEA'rnAM, Lorinon;31ino ain H ori'ioAIJAPPLIANoE FOR anvnn'rrsnjiunritr AND Omar; ieunrosns I I nr 'ii atibn iled July 24,1958, seriai 1a. 124,714, andin Great Britain 1111 25, 1925 V I I? invention relates-to improvements in the reflection thereof appearing an ob optical illusions for adver'tisementand other server as a whole fountain basin.

urposes and relates more particularly to In order to create the mpress on of water 1 I i that type of optical device in whicha mirror playing-from said fountain the silver surface 5 ormirrors are employed for reflecting-objects of the mirror is first partially etched away, 55

' 01*,PZL'Il3S of objects-in such manner that-the over that area which wouldbe covered reflection or reflections'appeartoan observer .water, so asto lea've oblique lines of; silvered f asrea-l objects situated at a place where in acsurface whi h alternate w th clear; glass. tualfactothey do'fnot exist; The slope of said oblique lines s so are; 1'0 The object of this inventi j'n .is to'pr'ov-ide ranged that for theport on of thewaterwhmh' .60

I V J an" i'mproved'device of th-isgkind by means of isto appear to be rising theirinclination is V Y 1 to the silvered- 'surface ofthe. -rnirror. For order to produce spectral images ofithdjobwhich t-hehalffof'a real" object; and the re-I at right angles to the inclination ,ofthe lines flectionthereofmaybecaused to coincideand which are to represent "the falling watere give the impression-ofaj solid. symmetrical Behind the rnirror provideda semi-trans 15 body. -A'further objectis 'to'prod-uce certain parent cylinder illuminated from w th nby 65 e fiects, visible to an observeni-n'front of the meansflo'f an electric lamp and adapted to romirror, by theuse ofilluminating means in tate about its longitudinalaxis whichis ver-er conjunction with speciallyprepared surfaces tically situated; On the surface of'the said on the said mi-rror. j V cylinderacontinuous series of vertical paque no According to this invention the mirror is. lines are drawn, the cylinder being caused silvered'upon the face nearest the object or, to rotate slowly under the influence; of the objects tobe refiected, said objects taking the heated air arising;fr0m, th e' lampwhich acts form of half sections of articles and the said on a fan in the well-known manner. v i mirroris etched on the silvere'd surface. or When .an, observer views th I arrangement :2 otherwise treated tofallow of thetransmission from thefront',,:the transmission oflight of light fromthe reari'of the mirror when'so. through the etched portions of thee-mirror" qui d. v r V 7 V; 7' will be continuously changingewing o the; v:Inone way-of carrying the-invention into movement of the shadows of the opaque lines effect amirror,Silvereilonthatgface whichis over said etched portions. The effect oh-.

i so; nearest the objects to be reflected is-positio'nedtained by such movement is that; the 0 diagonally of a bo2';shap"ed compartment so appearsto be runn ng down the one setgof i that it makes an angle of forty-five degrees oblique transparentportions and running up with the sides thereof andthat sideo fthe the other set, and the illusionis created of v compartment which is opposite the silver surwater sp outing up from thefountain'bas'iii eofacezis open. The appearance thus giverito' and fallingbackinto the same.;:: I

an observer looking into the open side of the In a modification of thei v e ntion the mir compartmentisthat of asymmetrical-com; ror may be placed at right-angles tojthe' I partmentwhichis-composed ofjthatportion walls gof the compartment inorder. t eme-1 I of-the same which is in frontofthe; silvered rious forms of objects may: be'used in corn l 5 surface together withtherefiectionthereofin junctiontherewith; i 9

themi'rror; o f- 1 a .Tofproducethe' illusion of any objectstandfor the purpose'of ,ingj forexamplein the centre of the 'conip artlamp: to the frontlofjthte main 'mirrorforlto" I men't ahalf sectionof saidobject-is cemented; special portions of the same, and also, in

e xample,'-;to producethe efiectfofa fountain jects placed in front ofthegmain mirror. j'basin' positioned centrally ofithe eompart The invention w illnow benore particulaf-i ment,a halfsection-of a-foiintainbasinis'afly described'iwithreference to. the acc mpany fixedjtothemirrori centrally of itsilength, the ingdrawings, in which 5o"combinationof fthereal object togetherjwith Fig. 1 is a front elevation of-anQP -ii 1 0 Supplementary mirrors reflecting light the} j i Fig. 4. is a side elevation of the apparatus V a side door being supposed removed to show the rotatable cylinder and the illuminating means, Fig. 5 is a diagram indicating the effect produced with a supplementary mirror and Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of the use of supplementary mirrors to illuminate the a front of the main mirror.

In the preferred form of the optical illusion apparatus according to this invention the apparatus is mounted within a boX-shaped compartment 1 having in the front 2 an opening 3 which may be of any suitable size. A proscenium 4 of any suitable shape is provided in front of said aperture in order to give a finished and neat appearance to the arrangement. In the side 2 an opening is left to give access to the space behind the mirror 5 and is fitted with a suitable door (not shown).

The mirror. 5 is arranged diagonally of the compartment 1 (as shown in Fig. 3) with the silvered face 6 thereof directed towards'the openings in the front of the compartment and proscenium. The silver is highly burnished and as a precaution against tarnish ing of the silver, otherwise exposed, it is covered with a coating of hard transparent solution.

' 7 Wooden fillets or blocks 7 may be employed to fix the mirror firmly in position. 7

The front half 8 of the compartment 1 is utilized to produce illusions due. simply to reflection in the mirror, such as that of a whole fountain basin standing in the centre of a compartment, as already described.

The half section of the fountain basin is indicated at 9 in the drawings and it is cemented to the silvered face 6 of the mirror in order that no apparent oint shall be visible in the combination of the object and the reflection thereof; Y

In the rear half 10 of the compartment, a source of light such as an electric lamp, 11, (Fig. 4) is provided and supported thereon in any well known manner, as by a W re 17 is a hollow cylinder 12 adapted to be rotated by the hot air rising from the said lamp.

The said cylinder is composed partly of opaque material 13 and partly of semi-transparent material 14L, suitable stiffening means 15 being provided atthe lower edge of the latter in order to' maintain the cylindrical form thereof. A fan 16 ofthewell-lrnown type is provided at the upper-end'of the cylinder which will thus be caused to rotate under the action of the hot air rising from-the lamp 11.

The portion 14 of the cylinder 12 is ruled thereon indicated by A, Band C, which may consist of any desired'advertising or other matter. 7

' A, in the drawings, indicates the portion of the mirror which is etched with oblique lines over the area which would correspond with the path of the water from the fountain basin 9. The said lines are inclined in one direction, as at a, for the space which would be covered by the rising jet of water, and inclined in the opposite direction, as at Z2, for indicating the descendingwater.

The silvered surface 6 of the mirror is removed by said etching so that there are alter nate lines of light-transmitting and light-refleeting surface over'the area representing the water playing from the'feuntain.

When the electric lamp 11 is switchedon, the specially prepared cylinder-12 beginsto rotate under the act-ion of the-hot air rising from said lamp. 3

The shadows of the vertical lines 18 travel across the etched portion of the mirror from right to left, or vice versa, their direction of travel depending on the direction of rotation of the cylinder 12. 7

As shown by means of the arrow in F ig. 2 the direction of rotation of the said cylinder is from left to right and hence alternate bands of darkness and light also traverse the mirror from left to right.

The appearance presented to an observer looking through the opening in the proscenium 4 is thatof a. fountain playing from the basin 9.

This effect is produced by the light travel-' ling from left to right of the transparent lines a and hence appearing to move upward- 1y, whilst upon travelling from left to right of the lines 6 it appears to move downwardly. The total effect thereforeis that of an upward jet'of water replacing-the lines a and of two downward streams of water replacing the lines I).

The deviceindicated at B is caused to appear intermittently and to create the illusion of appearing in mid air. This effect is obtained by suitably etching away the silvered surface of the mirror to give a stippled effect over. the area covered by the device/which, in theexample shown, is a representation of a device B';

1 saiddevice will vary-directly with the! amount vvhieh'is in. register with wilt be visrm pp rance" of the that- 'the' part- B become's invi'sible; Upon rotation "ofthe" said; cylinder 'hOWBVGI the transparent or open portion 19 thereof is bronght betvveen the lamp 11 and the device; v Bi f 53 5? i Y matter as indicated zit-'24 inFigi''Q Light is then allowed to fall upon the said device andit becomes visibl to an observer looking through the opening in the prosce- V nium 4. Upon further rotation of the cylindefr 12 the light from thelarnp 11 'is-faga'in' cut off frornthe device Band it" again becomes invisible frornthe front of the mirror.

' In orderto cause a g adual appearance and disappearance of the said device asupplementary mirror 20' may be provided at the rear of'the mirror 5,- together With a screen 21 -havingan opening22; 'Said screen and opening" are so arranged relatively tof the lamp" -11 said lampis-prevented from falling directly 7 on-the device B. ;.*When the Opening 190i the cylinder 12" rotates beforethe opening 22in the screen the light transmitted through said allowed to fall upon the mirror '20 and is reflected thence to the" back of the The' intensity of illumination of openings is of the 1 opening 19 the opning22 the screen 21, hence there 5 adua l appearance and dissilver' deposit precipitation ordepfositjof thesilver may be controlled during the 'process ofmanufacture may beeinployed. I v

becaused to appear suddenly and to disappear as suddenly or on of theinirro'r so that it varies in'thickness at the pie-determined sections rendered semi-transparent.

d t C' may be treated in although --an yfi suitable""advertising matter The word may the other hand may be caused to appear and disappear gradually in exactly the same man-v V ner as the fairy. p I

These said devices B and G appear to the observer to become visible in mid air'above I the fountain A, owing to the fact-that the presence of the mirror 5 is not appreciated by the saidobserver; r v V In a modification ofthis .form'of the apparatus the advertising matter may be interchanged by a I mirror 5 is etchedon the silvered face-6 to 0;;

very simple Operation.

produce a stippled eife'ctover the area to be covered by the advertising matter,su'iiicient silver being left on the'mirror to reflect light from the front thereof. Y e I g The desired advertisement set out on trans parent material is then aflixed to the rear of above the: lamp--11, adaptedto reflect light and the mirror 5 that light:tro'm-v shown diag will see therein a reflection of the r'n device"; the cylinder 12 rotates; Instead of. removing part 'of' the? p p vered 'it-Will visibl'e to from the'mi ri'or by etching; the 1 whichar'e-to be the compartment 1, metres-teaserstwe 1 t dy-es cal object's floating in mi d The-ap earance bribbil eorether spherr I whi ii is ates-d1 vided; Them The the-'rnirrorto register iviththe stippledipr 1 tion thereof so t at fipon illumination disaid' advertisementifrom the rear it will become visible to an: observer in'fr'ont ofs-aid mirror; f

The proscenium 4i may be provided with p an opening 23' adapted to; receive advertising n order to in minate said op n ng 23 snpplementarymirfor 25 may provided; assing upw r g e f n-l6; Which V is madein this/ease oi mica or other suitable: transparent material; on. to the said, opening:

- Ina further modification of the invention a plateg la'ss mirror 26 n1ay be provided in. one sida; the compartment 1 in order to": prodnce' tu rther images of the ohjleetsar ranged i-n the'fioflfi half 8: of the compare; m'ent; "mirror 261s: showninfe in-lines: g5; in Fighfi and-theefiec't produced t erehy is-i mmaticallyin Fi-gifiz 1 are shaman. fttlln lines in said figure to'gether With-ithejhalt."

section 9 ofthe fonntain basin. The-refie-cii 'tion of 'thesaid secton 9 inthe'inirrorfi is indicated at-9 Y "The observer" lOkl-fi ginto the 5 26, ilrwlrieh there reflections? w;

orthefountaincomprised by theparmand its refleetion 9?. f

isrp'lain grassland -t1nsfl-- As the min-n26 I the observer and newi n mereiy eetherefleeti-o n. 9 trans fountain 9", ea app aring' to be situ ated be hind thernirmr, The efieetor? the-mirror: 26 "is hence to give the impr ssion togtheob: server-"of "aeompartment; of double the depth The arrangement g of the appearanceet bubbles or (time p objecttis i'or'Ifierl half section- 276 the saidobjecti-togf"hervviththe he ofinthernirrorj y of the nnrr two In r o 2,29are p r28 ijsarrang 1545 degrees-to 'theyertiffal ais 11jandrthemirror:QQQiS-airangedQ r ght-Ian'- gles 'to, the mirror, means of t i siaife m rangement the e L'ght pa g, vertically; through the fan 1 6' (not shown)" fibril lamp is reflectedgihorizontallyIfronn m-ir r013 284M); mirror; 29}: and thenee' F! downward'std the half sphere 2%. taken bythelight ra y'sris d ieated diagram;- lFi g-zfi?) by me ns;

abrekenl I i Having-nova, particularly described; an

ascertained the nature of mysaiidzimienei ni;

, metrical body, so

and in What manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is 1. An apparatusfor creating optical illusions for use in advertising and for other purposes comprising a mirror Which'is silvered upon'the face nearest the object to be rethrough said transparent part of'the mirror.

2.? An apparatus for creating optical illusions, for use in advertising and other purposes comprising'a box open on one side, a glass'mirror silvered on the surface opposite the open side mounted diagonallyin' the box so as to divide the same into front and rearcompartments and having a portion of the silvering omitted to permit of the passage of light through the mirror, an object in the form of a half section applied to the silvered surface of the mirror'so that the real half and the reflected half of the object combine to produce the appearance of a complete symcompartment of the box adapted to create an upward current of airand a hollow cylinder adapted to be rotated by the current of air I arising from the source of light.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the source of-light is an electric lamp and the hollow cylinder iscomposed partly of opaque material andpartly ofsemi-transparent material, the said semi-transparent portion'being ruled with parallel opaque ver tical lines and the said opaque portion having a section removed from one side thereof to leave-an open space. i I

4. An apparatusaccording-to claim 2 including the removalofthe silvering from another partof the mirror to produce a stippled effect to allow of the transmission of light from said light source to the front of the a source; of light in the rear the fountain,

mirror, and also having an apertured'opaque portion, an apertured screen, operating in conjunction with the aperture in the opaque portion of the-rotating cylinder, and a supplementary mirroradapted to diffuse and re flect the light transmitted from the lamp by way of said apertures overthe rear of the said object to be displayed sothat the object appears and disappears gradually.

8. Anapparatus according to claim 2 in-- cluding a proscenium prpvided infront of the opening in the box compartment,-said proscenium being provided with an opening adapted to receive advertising matter. 7

9. An apparatus according to claim 2 including a proscenium provided in front of the opening in the box compartment, said proscenium being provided with an opening adapted to receiveadvertising matterand a supplementary mirror arranged to reflect light from the source lll'tlle rear ,compartment to illuminate the said advertising matter located in the proscenium opening. lOJAn apparatus according to claim 2 wherein'the portions of the mirror from which the silvering is removed are in the form of oblique parallel lines some of which are inclinedin one direction and others in another direction whereby an illusion is created of water flowingupwardly from a fountain and fallingback' into the basin of the reflected object consisting of a half section of a fountain basin which together with its reflection in the mirror has the appearance of a complete fountain basin.

In testimony whereofhe vhas aflixed his signature.

THEODORE BROWN.

mirror in order to create the illusion of ob jects appearing in mid airwithin the box.

5. An apparatus accordingto claim 2 including an electric lamp inthe rear compartment, a rotary cylinder partly opaque and partly translucent surrounding the lamp part of the translucent portions in the mirror being arranged at such a height that the light from the lamp is intermittently cut off from them by the opaque portion of the rotating cylin- 6. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the illusion is created of water playing from a fountain basin, the reflected ob ject consisting of a half section of a fountain basin which together with its reflection in the mirror has the appearance of a complete fountain basin. 

